On this Coffee with Brendan, the tables are turned and Brandon interviews Brendan! Find out how he went from graduating with a Psychology degree to embarking on a career in financial planning. Make sure to watch the end where Brendan shares how he likes to spend his time when he’s not in the office and which TV show he’s binge-watching (hint - it’s not The Bachelor!)
Topics Discussed:
Brendan’s background
What he likes most about his job
Which famous person would he most like to meet
How he spends his free time
Transcript:
Brendan Sheehan 00:02
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Coffee with Brendan, this is going to be the third of three in our series of get to know the team. So I got a couple clients who reached out to me and said, hey, you know, we now know about Brandon and Hanifa, how about you, Brendan? And so this is your opportunity, right now to learn a little bit more about me. I'm going to turn the microphone over to Brandon pretty quick in a moment, because we've already shot this once and realize that Brandon didn't appear on camera. So hopefully this time, it'll work. And I'll also try to trim it down from 15 minutes to probably be 10 to 12 minutes, but we'll see what we can do on that front. So Brandon, stage is yours.
Brandon Cardarelli 00:47
All right, so let's let the fun begin as the tables have now turned on to Brendan. So we'll kick it off with Where did you work before this position?
Brendan Sheehan 00:58
Alright, so I took a pretty long and winding road, graduated with a psychology degree had no idea what I was going to do with a psychology degree because I didn't want to be a psychologist. Went into advertising was working 12 hours a week, or 12 hours a day, 60 hours a week, got pretty burned out after about five years. And then in 2001, I was recruited by my dad to do marketing for his firm. Number one thing that he put me in charge of was the customer relationship management and the short - short way of describing that is just simply say I was in charge of keeping clients happy and reaching out to them. But if you remember, in 2001, there was a internet bubble that burst and we had a lot of anxious clients. And so clients were asking me questions that I didn't have the answers to because I had a marketing background, I didn't have a financial background. And so I decided to go back to school, get my Master's in financial planning, and then ultimately get my certified financial planner designation. So bang those out over a four year period, go to night school at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. And then in 2007, some of you may remember that Mike Scott bought my dad out. They didn't know what to do with me. Because it was actually Ameriprise that bought us out. And I went and moved and worked in Boston while Brandon stayed and and, and watched the watched the farm while I was gone. And so that's why I said in the last video, Brandon's actually the longest tenured Waymark employee at this point. And then from there, you know, just continued to grow the business. And ultimately in 2018, I became the sole owner of Waymark. So that's the abbreviated version. I think I took about five minutes last time. So hopefully, we got a couple of minutes back by just blitzing through that.
Brandon Cardarelli 03:00
Yes. And I believe you mentioned something about Bobby Orr?
Brendan Sheehan 03:08
yes, yeah. So one of the questions that we actually tossed was, have I met anyone famous and one of the more famous people I met was, during one of my internships in marketing and advertising, I actually worked at Wolf associates, Wolf Associates. Bob Orr was a pretty famous sports agent, and Bobby Orr the Bruins hockey great actually purchased Wolf and Associates. And I got a chance to, to see Bobby Orr every day and everyone says really positive things about him. And I have no, I'm no exception. He was just a lowly intern. And he made it a point to come meet me and introduce himself as Bobby. And I was like, I know who you are. You are THE Bobby or like one of the biggest hockey players in the history of the sport. So it was awesome.
Brandon Cardarelli 04:08
Awesome. Next is what's the most exciting part of your job?
Brendan Sheehan 04:14
Most exciting thing, I'm probably going to just echo what Brandon and Hanifa said, which is just helping people. You know, at the end of the day, money touches everything. And I get into some really personal conversations with people and help them during times that is that their first time going through it, but maybe my 10th time helping clients go through it. So obviously retirement is the number one thing and I've helped a number of clients with that. But then any kind of life change, whether it's a job change whether you know, we just had a client who sold the business, and she just jettison herself from just a normal person to a quote rich person because she just got about $4 million dumped in her lap because of that. And then you know all the people in between all the little small victories, whether it's just helping someone buy a car that they've always wanted. You know, we had a guy who is out in Colorado and always wanted to buy a rivian, which is kind of a pickup truck. It’s an electric pickup truck. And he is so happy. Because I pretty much was the guy that said, you can do it. I don't think he would have done it if he didn't have me saying to him, it's okay for you to go to move forward with it. You have enough money to afford this, I don't want to say extravagant car but it's it's a pricey car.
Brandon Cardarelli 05:35
Yes, they are very nice, hot off the markets as well. My next question, as a lot of clients might be wondering is, are you still going to be around in 10 years or where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Brendan Sheehan 05:49
So great question. I have clients asked me that question very directly, I have some clients that tiptoe around it. But at the end of the day, I'll be blunt with you, I'm almost 49 years old, 10 years, I still imagine myself doing what I'm doing here. But I also believe that both Brandon and Hanifa will start migrating more into my role. And, you know, being that kind of lead advisor for a lot of the clients. And you know, that's definitely something that I would love to help them both do. You know, everyone has a mentor that has helped them along, and I hope that be that type of person for Brandon and Hanifa. And then, you know, I'd love to when they start taking over and you know, becoming more of that lead advisor help the average person, you know, there's a lot of people that don't even know the fundamentals of financial planning. And I think I have a teacher gene in me because my mom taught elementary school for a few decades. So I think I have that gene in me that I really want to kind of teach people this stuff, because it's so important.
Brandon Cardarelli 07:03
Excellent. So now let's jump into some more personal questions. What's something that you're proud of?
Brendan Sheehan 07:11
Um, so there's a few of them. But you know, the thing that I always point to that I don't know, if all my clients know about is that I'm an Eagle Scout. So when I was 18, I became an Eagle Scout. And I was really proud of what I did, you know, at 17 and 18, when, you know, kids these days are, you know, listening to tik tok and all those other things like I was, I was coordinating a town wide food drive that that that collected about 10 tons of food during a time when the food banks were pretty bare, because it was during President Bush's - number one - recession. And, and so yeah, I was able to do that. And it was pretty cool. Like, you know, where do you get that opportunity to make that kind of impact, you know, when you're only 17, or 18? So, definitely proud about that.
Brandon Cardarelli 08:05
Excellent. And I believe you're trying to share that experience with your little ones as well.
Brendan Sheehan 08:12
Yep. So my 16 year old, they Boy Scouts open to girls, in I think 2019, and my 16 year old is definitely working towards that a little slower than I want her to because she gets kicked out of scouts at age 18. So the clock is ticking, but but I'm confident that she'll do it.
Brandon Cardarelli 08:31
Excellent. So I'm sure she will. My next question here is which historical figure would you most like to meet?
Brendan Sheehan 08:41
So he's passed on now, but but actually have is a book of his quotes right behind me that I have on my windowsill at all times. It's Winston Churchill. Just like Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain, he was just kind of a folksy guy that spoke to the average person in a way that people don't speak to the average person and made, you know, made sense. And, you know, if you really kind of break everything down, he's the epitome of the pen being mightier than the sword where it literally was his words, that changed, changed world history. You know, if he hadn't stood up there, and been that kind of beacon of hope for the British people, they would have folded. And, you know, Europe would look a lot different than it does today. So it really was just one person and his power of oration that, that changed the course of history. So I'm fascinated by him. And then, you know, just from a personal standpoint, like, you know, yes, he had his big quotes that he had everyone talks about, but he also had a really sharp sense of humor. And I think he'd be a fun guy to sit down and have a drink with
Brandon Cardarelli 10:01
That sounds fantastic. Thanks for sharing that. Let's get into a little bit more fun questions to kind of close out this. And I think you've asked these to myself and Hanifa in the prior video. So I guess it's only fair that we do the same to you. So we'll kick it off with first, what's your favorite thing to do on the weekends?
Brendan Sheehan 10:21
So weekends, I just like being outside, you know, five days a week, I'm kind of sitting in an office like this, and not getting much exercise at all. I like being active. So whether it's me just sitting on the lawn more and more than the law on getting my hands dirty and in the dirt, you know, doing something, or, you know, going camping or going on hikes, going mountain biking, you know, just doing anything outside on the happy camper.
Brandon Cardarelli 10:51
Excellent. And now the one that everyone's been waiting for, I don't think you're a Bachelorette fan. So what are you currently binge watching?
Brendan Sheehan 11:01
So back in 2015, again, some of the things that is something that I don't think a lot of people know about me is that I really liked video games. I've liked them since I was little and I had an Atari and and television, I had a Nintendo and now I have a PlayStation 5. And one of the games that it's just an amazing, amazing games. It's like a zombie apocalypse called The Last of Us. And I remember telling my wife, I said, this, this is the only video game that's ever made me cry. And so she laughed at me. She was like, haha, you know, I can't believe her crying in a video game. And then I got word two years ago that they were actually taking this video game and turning it into an HBO series. And again, it's called The Last of Us. And it's been on for the last several weeks. I think we're six or seven weeks into it right now. And I think my wife's already cried five times. So I got the last laugh there because now she's starting to realize why I was crying during the video game. Because it's an emotional story. That's the whole reason why it was so compelling to me is that it's a very emotional story of a guy who's experienced loss and he's trying to help this this young girl who kind of reminds him a lot of his daughter who passed away bla bla bla bla. Anyway, it's fantastic. Fantastic TV. So Last of Us, HBO. That's my that's my hands down recommendation.
Brandon Cardarelli 12:36
Be sure to add it to the list. Excellent. Thank you, Brendan for sharing all your answers with us today. That is all the questions I had. Anything else you'd like to add or close it out with?
Brendan Sheehan 12:50
No, I think that's it. I don't I don't think we have anyone else that we can interview unless we interview some of the contractors we have like the marketing people who will actually handle this or maybe our bookkeeper or CFO but think that I think those are the people that you interact with every day are the people that have already appeared in the in the Get To Know series. So that's all we got for today. Until next time, have a great day.
Brendan is the Managing Director for Waymark Wealth Management. He has extensive experience in comprehensive wealth management. His focus includes retirement planning, behavioral finance, investment portfolio construction, education funding, insurance & risk management, taxes, charitable giving, and estate planning. Brendan has an ability to take clients' complex visions and distill them down to simple action plans, helping them move from where they are today to where they want to be tomorrow.
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